As the Thunder prepare to host the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night, they are trying to dig themselves out of the 10-12 hole in which they currently sit.

If they’re lucky, they’ll eventually have the opportunity to compete for a championship, just like the Oklahoma Sooners football team.

Behind Heisman favorite Baker Mayfield, the Sooners won the Big 12 Championship and were announced as the second seed in the college football playoffs, which will also feature the Clemson Tigers, the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Sooners will play the Bulldogs on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl. The winner will play the winner of the Clemson-Alabama game for the national championship on January 8.

The Sooners are looking for their first championship since 2000, and Thunder forward Paul George believes that, behind Mayfield, the Sooners have a real shot.

Paul George is a big Baker Mayfield fan: “He has that ‘it’ about him as far as being a leader.”

After spending the first seven years of his NBA career as a member of the Indiana Pacers, George was traded to the Thunder this past summer and has become enamored with both Mayfield and the Sooners.

“He has that ‘it’ about him as far as being a leader,” George said. “He holds everybody accountable and he’s always ready. It’s the perfect guy if you’re a team and you want somebody in that spot. He’s the perfect guy for it.”

George thinks it’s a foregone conclusion that Mayfield will be playing in the NFL.

“He should definitely be a guy that’s gonna play on Sunday and earn a lot of money on Sunday, so I’m a big fan. I’m a big fan of Baker,” George said. “He’s been playing really well, his team has been playing really well, the offense is one of the best offenses in college football and he’s a big reason for it.”

For his entire career, George has been a winner. He led the Indiana Pacers toward the top of the Eastern Conference just a few short years ago and has had the opportunity to play with and for some great leaders during his career. He believes that Mayfield has the makings of a galvanizing force.

“You can see it,” George said of Mayfield’s leadership. “The really good ones have a way of impacting everybody on the team and he has that. On the sidelines, they pan on him and he’s engaged with everybody, gets the crowd into it, you see it and the whole team feeds off him,” George said. “He definitely has good energy.”

As for whether the Sooners have a legitimate shot at coming out on top and winning their first national championship since 2000?

George thinks there’s reason to be optimistic.

“I think so,” he said of the team’s chances. “And I’m not just saying that being here in Oklahoma,” he said. “I think honestly, watching them, their offense is explosive and their defense is underrated, so I think they definitely got a shot of winning it all.”

Deep down inside, George is probably hoping that his Thunder’s season ends up being as successful as that of Mayfield and the Sooners.

The Thunder hope to continue their recent momentum with a third straight victory when they host the Jazz on Tuesday night.

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Moke Hamilton

Moke Hamilton is a writer and columnist for the USA TODAY Sports Media Group's NBA Wire. Based in New York City, Moke has covered the NBA for seven seasons, previously working for Turner Sports and NBC Universal. He can be heard from time to time on the airwaves of 98.7FM ESPN New York.